She rode the SkyTrain 'for free' when she was 15, now ICBC is telling her — and 37,000 others — to pay up

ICBC is cracking down on nearly 40,000 British Columbians who have outstanding transit fines.Photo by
Jenelle Schneider

A decade ago, as a girl of 15, Rayanne Tupman used to ride SkyTrain for free. She was caught almost a dozen times, and issued tickets, but she never paid them or told her parents.

This week, the now 25-year-old Maple Ridge mother of two was shocked to learn those fines had come due, thanks to a new crackdown at ICBC. Nearly 40,000 other B.C. residents could soon find themselves facing the same nasty surprise.

The Douglas College nursing student is upset that she must pay more than $2,000 in unpaid TransLink fines in order to upgrade her driver’s licence.

“They are taking the food out of the mouths of my children for something that occurred a decade ago, something that my parents were never informed of since I was a minor,” she said.

She argues TransLink should have sent a notice to her parents, because she was a minor and didn’t understand the repercussions.

“How is this justified that the government can bring old skeletons out of our closets from when we were kids?” Tupman said.

Upset as she is, Tupman admits she is responsible and says she will pay the fine. But she wants her experience to serve as a warning to other youths what could happen.

A 2012 legislative provision that came into force at ICBC Monday will now make it impossible for drivers like Tupman with pre-2012 unpaid fines to renew licences or vehicle registrations without paying their TransLink debts.

ICBC’s Adam Grossman said approximately 37,000 B.C. residents with some $5.7 million in outstanding tickets incurred between 2002 and 2012 would now find licences and registrations subject to a “refuse to issue” hold.

“The refuse to issue restriction is part of the legislation introduced by government in May 2012 to reduce fare evasion on the transit system and has been in place on new transit debt since Sept. 4, 2012,” Grossman explained. “We’ve now made the system changes required to support refuse to issue holds on older, provincial transit tickets.”

Grossman said ICBC would send out notices to affected drivers prior to their renewal date.

TransLink warns on its website that unpaid tickets can impede an individual’s ability to renew driver’s licences or vehicle insurance.

Overdue fines are sent to collections. Once a ticket is more that 180 days past due, the $173 fines increase by $40 to $213. Once a ticket is more than one year overdue, fines increase another $60 up to $273.

Fare infractions issued before Sept. 4, 2012, are considered provincial offences and are collected or disputed through ICBC.

TransLink spokeswoman Jiana Ling referred inquiries on this case to ICBC, as they were in charge of fine administration prior to 2012 and therefore have jurisdiction.

If fines remain unpaid after a year, ICBC refers them to collections. Between 2010 and 2012, ICBC collected $10 million in unpaid fines on 60,000 tickets, averaging 2,500 a month.

In September 2012, following the introduction of the South Coast B.C. Transportation Authority Act, TransLink gained responsibility for issuing fare-infraction tickets and collecting fines.

At that time, TransLink admitted it was losing $18 million a year in revenue to fare evaders.

In 2013, the first full year TransLink took over fine administration, the transit authority issued 25,400 tickets worth about $5.6 million. They managed to collect on 33 per cent of the tickets.

Fare evasion is expected to decline following the implementation of the $170-million Compass Card faregate program.

Passengers can pay fines in person, online or by mail. They can dispute a ticket, even if they have paid some or all of it. They must fill out a Notice of Dispute form on TransLink’s website and submit it within 14 days of the date the ticket was issued. Passengers unhappy with the outcome of dispute resolution can appeal the decision.

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